Here's a glimpse of my current reading--

• The Atlantic Fiction 2009 issue--just picked it up at Issues this afternoon.
• The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood
• Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg

This wee stack (and my knitting) is keeping me occupied.  I am also culling our current library. Just 'cause I liked something don't mean I should keep it. At least I can get five bucks from Half-Price to buy something else...if that. 

I just told D. that he is a drying rack constructor extraordinaire. At some point during the day, while I was out and D. was resting, the cats had a mosh pit going on in the living room. One of them jumped off the stairs and landed on the drying rack. When I came home, it was bent and I couldn't fix it. We went to Target this afternoon to purchase a new one. The cats owe me $13.00.

Yesterday we took Eloisa to the vet for her annual exam and rabies shot. She is the first in line to go because she is the oldest but all the other cats have their numbers. Our veterinarian only sees cats and this is what the office sounds like--

"Heh, how are you widdle kitty?"

"Awww, we don't like that do we? No, we don't."--The vet tech, cooing to Weezie, as she struggled against having her claws cut.

"She such a pwetty girl, yes she is."

While we were there, I thought to myself, "We are with the cat people. I am home."

Yang Yang is just so cute! I want to hug him!

Nice.

She and I were in the same room on Sunday night.

Yeah.

Okay, by "room" I mean Minute Maid Park. Nonetheless, me and my bff were there!

Let me tell you about Madgemania--we were almost trampled. I am not sure why they let thousands of people wait outside the door and then let them in all at once. Aside from that, it was an amazing show! Madonna has more muscles in her arms than most guys have in their legs.

Today, in particular, I remember visiting here and here in 2003.

I am so depressed that Texas gave the game away to Lubbock Univ. last night--so stupid. I have been to Lubbock and it sux. Give me a moment to hate...I know that it doesn't TOTALLY suck.

Grrr...

In an effort to control stress, I have been taking every Friday night/Saturday off. No school work. Sleep in late, drink several cups of coffee, and relax. Thus far it is working.  On Saturday, I had a lovely breakfast date with sasha_b . I spent the rest of the day with D and an old friend C. We met C and his wife in San Angelo. We bought two "wee" kegs--D and C were quite taken with this creation. I drank a bottle of Spanish champagne. We caught up on old and new times.

Overall, a stress free weekend.

Source: The short-but eventful-life of Ike

D and me are in Austin this week.  We do not have power in Houston. Tomorrow is day five without light and air conditioning.  I had class this week.  We decided to leave town on Sunday. The poor cats got crammed into their carriers and are spending the week at a  kitty spa (veterinarian's office) here in town.  We found an excellent vet in South Austin willing to board the furry ones for half off due to our circumstances.  My room in the co-op will accommodate two people but not two people and four cats. This is our attempt at  "normality" in the midst of a lot of destruction.

When I have time, and when I figure it out, I will post up some pictures.  This is our first natural disaster so we are pretty shaken up.  We did not sustain the level of damage experienced by other Houstonians or the folks on Galveston Island/Bolivar Peninsula. A couple of people have already asked me, "Why didn't y'all leave Houston?" I have been cordial but I have wanted to laugh and say, "Let me get in line with four million nine hundred ninety-nine thousand nine hundred people." Yeah.

Is it bad luck that I got sick the first day of class? It is no fun being at school from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. as the icky tissue producing machine. I got a lot of looks from my classmates. One of them said, "are you okay?" with this scared look on her face. Never fear I am not contagious. Just allergies.  

I am on the mend. Nothin' like a little steroids (from the doctor, thank you very much!) to get an asthmatic back in the game.

Mood *Congested*

In our house, we have a large window that looks out onto a small patio.  Right now, there is a female cardinal hanging out on the patio. The cats are going nutz. Two of them have already hurled themselves towards the window thinking they are going to catch her.  Better than television.  I think the bird knows the cats are on the other side of the glass because she keeps coming up to the edge and cleaning her feathers.

Even better than this, as many others have already posted, is seeing The Dark Knight. It is so good that I think I will see it again.

Are you familiar with pleurisy? I wasn't up until 4 a.m. when I ended up in the minor emergency room--Dr. said that the burning and pain in my chest is pleurisy, as well as an upper respiratory infection. Yeah me.

But that is not all that has been going on with the precious! We are becoming DIY-ers--this week we tore out the old floor of the first level of our house.  Now, true DIY-ers would have installed the new floor themselves but we paid someone.  It looks awesome.  The best thing is seeing the cats go butt first because the floor is a little slippery.

That enough for now.

Well, the month in between posts has been pretty busy. First and foremost, I completed my first year of graduate school. Who knew it would ruin me?!?! Ha ha!! Just a sick and twisted graduate student joke--I don't mean that seriously...yet. :)

Big D and I spent some time in New Mexico in the middle of May. We went to the Bandolier Wilderness.  The park is rugged, harsh, and beautiful.  Afterwards, we spent some time in Santa Fe and yours truly had one too many at the hotel bar. Overall, it was a much needed vacation.

I am in the process of "de-cluttering" our home. We just got rid of a bunch of crap last week. The cleaning process is making me rich--I keep finding money all over the place--mainly coins. Probably just enough for a bag of cheetos.

Cats and lines from the LOTR


more cat pictures

It is "cool" not "cold" in the Republic of Austin--for those that live in frostier climates.

This weekend, I drove down to San Antonio for Fiesta! Yes, I go to Fiesta--I marched the night parade for three years in a horrible polyester outfit resembling a walking Crayola Crayon box with a cowboy hat. I did not partake of the alcoholic beverages because I was the designated driver but I indulged in tacos, sausages, and ribs...thank you very much. Overall, it was a good parade--wish Big D could have been there but he was working...next year!

In other news, this is the last week of school! Yeah! Today and tomorrow I am going to make a big push to finish my projects.

Just to wrap up, we are having some unseasonably cold weather here in the Republic of Austin--I need to bust out my sweater.

Why didn't I know about this?

Shrimp-n-grits?!?!?!?!?!

Hello....Big D...from NC

I will have this dish, oh yes, I will have this dish.